Raazi: It is a great feeling to create a patriotic song like Ae Watan in today's times, says Shankar Mahadevan

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa have composed music for Raazi.

For Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa, the commonly heard excuse of the audience 'not being ready' does not hold much water. At a time when music directors in Bollywood are sometimes apprehensive of experimenting the talented musical trio believes in taking risks and pushing boundaries.

S-E-L has composed music for Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions'
Raazi, directed by Meghna Gulzar that is set during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. “If I would have thought in a conventional manner and hadn’t composed a song like
Ae Watan fearing that it will not work in today’s time, it would have been a wrong decision. A patriotic song like
Ae Watan has a simple melody and simple chorus; there is nothing fancy to it. We have to develop people's taste. By putting out an
Ae Watan, I am creating new interest for the public and I believe this is the primary responsibility of a music director,” Shankar says. “Also, I feel people like this kind of music but the problem is that there is an absence of it because the people who are putting out music for films don't believe in it. That's where the major problem lies,” Loy adds.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy on scoring the music for 'Raazi'

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The four-song music album is filled with soulful, nuanced and incredible lyrics crafted by the legendary Gulzar Sahab that contain reels of imagery and have the power to move you. “
Raazi is a phenomenal story about unsung heroes from our country who have sacrificed their lives for the nation and their names never got mentioned anywhere. It is a huge sacrifice that they have done for the country. When you’re doing music for a film like this, I believe you shoulder a certain commitment and responsibility. One needs to maintain a certain kind of aesthetics while creating music for such films, especially to justify the plot of true stories like these. A patriotic song should sound and feel genuine for the people who listen to it and eventually when they start singing. It should appeal to all; from children to adults and also Indians living abroad.Also, this was our eighth project with Gulzar ji and it was a blessing to work with a legend like him," Shankar informs.

“'
Main jahan rahoon, jahaan me yaad rahe tu, Ae watan.. mere watan!' It was a huge responsibility given to us by the director and the team and when we agreed to create songs for the film, we decided to create something that would really stay for a while with the audiences and from the reaction that we have got in the last few days as the songs have released, it is a moment where we feel we have achieved yet another milestone,” Shankar discloses, flashing a smile.

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Talvar director knew exactly what kind of music she didn’t want for her film. “Well she had certain parameters for her film which she wanted us to stick to. She didn’t want us to go electronic, she didn’t want to get in to rock and that kind of stuff so automatically that was put out of the picture. There were certain things that she didn’t want and so we kept all that in mind and that is where we started from. She wanted world music, folky sounds, and I guess that is what the film eventually needed. If you hear all the songs, they are all from within those parameters,” Ehsaan adds.

The musical trio believes that the director of the film is the captain of the ship and he/she should have the last word. “All three of us are clear about the fact that we are designing music for the director of the film. If we would have been the captain of the ship we would compose songs for our private album. We are composing music for a film where the director has got a vision and we have to fulfill his/her vision," Shankar says .

When asked about how they handle failure when a great composition doesn’t reach heights because it is not picturised or promoted well, Shankar says, “It is really depressing when you see your song is picturised very badly or it did not see the light of the day. You really wish that more people would have heard the song at least.”

The secret behind the success of their unity is their passion to create magnificent compositions. “As it is, in the creative space we have got three strong minds and individual viewpoints working on one product so disagreements and fights are bound to happen. But we look at the bigger picture that all these arguments are for creating a better song and there is no personal fight. After all the disagreements, arguments, fights, eventually the songs win in the end,” Shankar reveals.